The next day Mr. Hampton called the boys and Niellsen into conference regarding their future course. They had put the country of the Kikuyus quite definitely behind them in their passage of the region and now of this river, of which they did not know the name, although Mr. Hampton believed it to be probably a branch of the Terywell.  
“We are on the fringes of big game country by all accounts,” he said, “both from what I picked up in Nairobi and from what Wimba tells me. West of us lies Lake Victoria; east, Mount Kenya.”
 
“That’s the high one, isn’t it, Dad?” asked .
 
Mr. Hampton nodded. “Said to be 17,010 feet,” he commented. “Next to Mount Kilimanjaro, which is also in Kenya Colony, lying southeast of Nairobi and more than 19,000 feet in height, it is the tallest peak in Africa.”
 
“I vote for striking toward Mount Kenya,” said Frank, emphatically. “We’ll get into higher altitudes and escape from this awful heat.”
 
“Huh,” Bob. “It wasn’t so hot that night eight or ten days ago when we couldn’t get enough blankets to keep warm.”
 
He referred to one of the changes in temperature which makes Africa land of extremes, when even the equatorial region a day of blazing sunshine and oppressive heat is frequently succeeded by terrific rains and a freezing night.
 
Niellsen looked thoughtful. “It’s not such a bad idea to strike for Mount Kenya,” he said, “if only there’s a chance of getting some films of animal life. But what are game conditions like over there?”
 
“Wimba says they’re pretty good,” said Mr. Hampton. “However, he believes that in the Kavirondo country northeast of Lake Victoria, they will be better. And if we strike in that direction, we can our supplies at Kisumu on the lake. It is on the railroad from the coast, and lake steamers touch there, too.”
 
“Lake steamers?” Bob cried in surprise.
 
Mr. Hampton nodded. “The region around Lake Victoria was developing rapidly when the war halted its progress. Germans, British, Belgians and , all are in this country hereabouts, you know. Their armed forces of blacks officered by whites messed life up pretty badly. However, since the end of the war I was given to understand in Nairobi development has been picking up again at a great rate. So at Kisumu, which is the trade center for a big region, although only a little town itself, we will be able to replenish our supplies. And as we are beginning to run rather low, I believe it will be wise to do so.”
 
“Kisumu for me,” said Bob, “and the Kavirondo region. If big game is to be found there, especially. I want to bag at least one lion on this trip. And so far we haven’t encountered one.”
 
“And I want an elephant,” said Jack.
 
Niellsen laughed. “I want to shoot lions and elephants, too,” he said. “But with the camera.”
 
“Looks as if I were outvoted,” said Frank, mopping his sticky face, for the heat of the day still persisted.
 
Mr. Hampton regarded him sympathetically. “Don’t worry. Frank,” he said. “We’ll get into mountainous country up there, and, in fact, we’ll be out of these Kikuyu plains pretty quickly. That range of hills ahead form the outposts of the mountains of which Kenya is the tallest peak, unless I’m much mistaken. We’ll be into them by tomorrow. And then, even though the weather will continue hot, yet it won’t be the heat of these lowlands.”
 
The next morning, accordingly, camp was struck and the expedition set out for Kisumu, which was reached after a week of uneventful travel. From their first day after crossing the river, they entered a region. Villages became numerous.
 
Anxious to reach the Kavirondo country, after first stopping at Kisumu for a of supplies, Mr. Hampton did not loiter on the way. And as Niellsen and the boys found little either of topography or animal life to make interesting pictures, the party pushed on without any of the customary side expeditions for the purpose of obtaining pictures of animal life.
 
Kisumu proved to be a surprise, being far from the traditional picture of African town, what with its business buildings of European architecture and its comfortable where European residents dwelt. One of the lake steamers was in the town and the boys sought and obtained permission to board it for . They were surprised to find it a modern, though small, craft, with comfortable cabins, well-appointed saloons, and electric lights.
 
“Not much like the Africa we’ve been through,” said Mr. Hampton, “and even less like the Africa into which we soon will . But, then, you fellows must remember that this is a point on the main travel , as the railroad from the distant coast connects here with the boats to carry travellers across the lake and to the northern railroad line. Not far from here, I am told, we’ll find the country wild enough, and the people far more than the Kikuyus of the plains.”
 
In the several days spent at Kisumu, while Mr. Hampton was busy restocking for their further journey, the boys knocked about the little town and at the Club to which a friend of Mr. Hampton’s living down country in Nairobi had given them cards for use in case they came this way, they made the acquaintance of an Englishman who told them a good deal about the great lake sparkling beyond the town. He was in Kisumu to from an attack of jungle fever, an............